States Of Consciousness WEEK 4 Flashcards
The subjective awareness of mental events
Consciousness
The process of focusing conscious awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experiences requiring more extensive information processing
Attention
The normal flow of consciousness can be measured through
experience sampling
An example of Experience sampling test for measuring the flow of consciousness
beeper study
A major component of the normal flow of consciousness is
daydreaming
turning attention away from external stimuli and having internal thoughts and imagined scenarios is also known as
daydreaming
A mental state of conciousness where a person is fully absorbed in an activity feeling engaged focus
Flow
Complete involvement and intrinsic enjoyment of an activity indicates you are in a mental state of
Flow
The person is currently subjectively aware according to Freud is ——- mental activity, of which the person is currently aware
Conscious
Processes of which a person are not currently conscious but could be readily brought to consciousness according to Freud
PreConscious
According to Freud this process is dynamically kept from consciousness because they are threatening
Unconscious
The cognitive unconscious focuses on
information processing mechanisms that operate outside of awareness
The cognitive unconscious focuses on Procedural Knowledge and implicit memory which, according to the cognitive perspective, operate outside —-
awareness
According to behavioural perspective consciousness has two functions
Monitor and Control
According to the behavioural perspective Consciousness is considered analogous to a
Continuously moving video camera, surveying thoughts, emotions, perceptions goals and problem solving goals
Conciousness evolved as a mechanism for directing bahviour in adaptive ways is the theory of the
Evolutionary perspective
According to the evolutionary perspective the primary purpose of consciousness is to foster
adaption
The sleep cycle is governed by
circadian rhythms
Cyclical biological “clocks” that evolved around the cycles of light and dark
circadian rhythms
Sleep proceeds through a series of stages that can be assessed by
EEG
The major distinction in sleep cycles is between
REM and non REM sleep
Most dreaming occurs in
REM sleep
During REM sleep the EEG takes on an active pattern resembling
Waking Consciousness
Freudian: Dreams have meanding distiguised between the —–
Manifest content (storyline) and the latent content (underlying meaning)
Psychodynamic term: Manifest Content of a dream
Storyline of a dream
Psychodynamic term: Latent Content of a dream
Underlying meaning of a dream
The usual conscious ways of perceiving thinking and feeling are modified or disrupted
Altered State of Consciousness
The usual conscious ways of perceiving thinking and feeling are modified or disrupted through meditation and hypnosis or drugs
Altered State of Consciousness
Deep state of tranquility by altering the normal flow of consciousness
Meditation
Deep relaxation and suggestibility
Hypnosis
Alcohol and other depressants, hallucinogens and marijuana that operate on the nervous system to alter mental activity are known as
Psychoactive Substances
Condition that occurs when 2 or more senses overlap ie smell and vision
Synaesthesia
Subjective experience that dynamically changes throught the day in relation to environment and stimuli
Consciousness
Cogito Ergo Sum means what and was said by who
Rene Descartes “I think, therefore I am”
The mindful attention and awareness scale (2011) and Consciousness quotient inventory (CQ-i) was designed to
measure levels of consciousness during the day
EEG stands for
Electroencephalogram which can measure and detect brain activity
Brain imaging can help doctors assesses the likelyhood
A vegetative patient may recover
Consciousness has two functions
Monitors the self and environment, regulation of thought and behaviour
Analogous
comparable in certain respects, typically in a way which makes clearer the nature of the things compared.
Consciousness often steps in when ———– are not successfeul
Automated processes (procedural knowledge)
Anatomy term regarding location: relating to, or involving both the back and the sides
Dorsolateral (Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex) - The back and side of the prefrontal cortex
Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex is responsible for processing
working memory and conscious decision making and is activated when people exercise conscious control
Test where a word is a colour written (ie GREEN) but the colour of the font is another colour such as red and the participant is to name the colour of the font
stroop test, requiring conscious attention
The stroop test leads to activation of the
The Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex
The anterior Cingulate cortex is suggested to
consciously regulating conflicting cues and perhaps inhibiting incorrect responses
——– are qualitatively different patterns of subjective experience, including ways of experiencing both internal and external events
States of Comsciousness
According to the evolutionary perspective consciousness may have evolved as
a mechanism for directing behaviour in adaptive ways, that was superimposed on primitive psychological processes such as conditioning
Conciousness is often “grabbed” by things that are —– and may affect wellbeing or survival
Unexpected Unusual contradictory or contrary to expectations
The essence of attention is
Selection
being able to focus on just one voice though their are many people talking in the room is known as the
Cocktail Party Phenomen
Thoughts do not remain on topic anf our brain processes additional unrelated sensory information, we are experiencing
Mind Wandering
People tend to have no awareness of what happened in the external environment when
Their mind wanders to another topic
Mind wandering is a stable cognitive trait that may increase with
stress, boredom or sleepiness
Mind wandering decreases with
Concentration, effort, successful enjoyable tasks or happiness
Diversion of attention away from something relevant but emotionally upsetting
Selective Inattention
Some of the third wave cognitive-behavioural therapies now consider
Treatments based on Mindfulness
Attention consists of 3 functions
- orienting to sensory stimuli 2. Controlling behaviour and contents of consciousness 3, maintaining alertness
Attention enhances process at
Cortical locations (brain locations)
Helps control Eye Movement
Superior Colliculi
etymology Superior (toward head or body) Colliculi (Hill, Knoll)
Directs attention to particular sensory systems
Thalmus (etymology) Inner chamber
Direct attention to particular locations in the brain (anatomy)
Parietal lobes Prietal (forms the walls of the structure)
Paradoxically, consciousness is to a alrage degree regulated ……..of the …….
outside of the consciousness
How much to listen to someone who is talking is an example of which component of attention
Control the contents of consciousness
Network of neurons that are involved in regulating states of alertness
Reticular formation
Trying to follow two conversation simultaneously is an example of
Divided attention
Action previously perfrom with conscious attention are eventually processed ……
Automatically. Automatisation.
The failure to notice unexpected stimulus occurring in ones visual field is an example of
Inattention blindness
Automatising one or more tasks or rapidly shifting attention between them refers to the capacity to split attention or cognitive resources between two or more tasks
Divided Attention
Thinking about something other than what is currently happening in the individuals environment
Daydreaming
daydreaming may serve and adaptive purpose and enhance
memory consolidation, enhance social slkills and problem solving and creativity
Study participants report on the contents of their consciousness is a technique called
Experience Sampling technique
An example of a experience sampling technique is
Beeper Studies
Beeper studies
intermittent alerts prompting a participant to stop and log the current experience
A study has found that some students reported wandering minds not when they are bored but when overtaxed by unusually challenging tasks seeming to it as a ….
coping mechanism
Flow research indicates it is related to —-networks
Dopamine (reward), intrinsic reward systems and positive versus negative emotional arousal
Much of the neural research of flow is —– rather than confirmatory
Exploratory
Daydreaming is often used for
pleasure or problem solving
Consciousness is not considered highly relevent according to modern….
behaviourist
A change in coginitive psychology occered when research on ——- memory and —- emerged
Implicit memory and cognition
Freud define consciousness as on of three mental systems
conscious, preconscious and unconscious
Freud defined subjective awareness of stimuli, feelings or ideas as
Conscious Mental Processes
Freud catagorised consciouness into 3 ………….
Mental processes
Perception of stimuli below the threshold of consciousness
Subliminal Perception
in cognitive psychology - an unconscious motivation; a memory that affects us without us realising it
Implicit Motivation
there are two types of motivation:
conscious and unconscious
Studies have shown that when people are not actively thinking about their conscious goals, they tend to act based on ……….
unconscious motives.
research findings that people can respond emotionally to situations or individuals without
knowing the exact reason why they feel that way. (unconscious)
Cognitive research refers to information-processing mechanisms that operate outside of ———
Awareness (ie implicit memory)
(rather tahn information the person wants to keep from awareness)
An example of preconsciousness is
Memories (readily available)
Freud: The unconscious mind contains 1—– 2—– 3——- that are hidden from our conscious awareness and can influence our behavior without us realising it.
thoughts, desires, and memories
When Freud used the terms “descriptively” and “dynamically” unconscious, he was making a distinction between two aspects of ………..
unconscious processes.
Frued: type of unconscious process that refers to thoughts and memories that are hidden from conscious awareness. They are things we are not aware of at a given moment.
Descriptively unconscious
Freud: type of unconscious process that refers to the hidden thoughts and desires that actively influence our behaviour and emotions. These hidden forces from the unconscious can impact our actions, motivations, and decisions
Dynamically unconscious
Freud: The hidden memory doesn’t actively influence your present behavior or emotions because you have no conscious access to it. It remains dormant in your mind and does not affect your daily life.
Descriptively Unconscious:
Descriptive = Dormant)
Freud: The hidden fear of dogs actively impacts your behavior and emotions even though you don’t consciously know the reason behind it. Your fear influences how you respond to dogs (affects your life), even though the initial trigger is not available to your conscious awareness.
Dynamically Unconscious
(dynAmic = Affects life, unsure why)
——- unconscious refers to hidden memories or information that have little to no impact on your current thoughts, feelings, and behavior because they are not accessible to your conscious mind
Descriptively unconscious
(descriptive = doormant)
——– unconscious includes hidden thoughts, desires, or emotions that actively shape your behaviour and emotions, even though you may not be consciously aware of the specific underlying reasons
dynamically unconscious
(DynAmic = Affects, not sure why)
What term does Information processing models (cognitive) use inetrchangeable with ‘Consciousness’
Working memory
Implicit memory is
Unconscious
Explicit memory is
Conscious
COGNITIVE: What are some strengths of unconscious processes in everyday behavior?
Unconscious processes, such as skills, priming, and classical conditioning, are extremely fast, efficient, and can lead to adaptive responses based on learning from observed regularities in the environment
COGNITIVE: How does the capacity of conscious and unconscious processes differ
Consciousness has limited capacity, allowing only one “scene” or focus at a time. In contrast, unconscious processes can operate simultaneously with multiple networks gathering data and offering potential solutions.
COGNITIVE: How do conscious processes differ from unconscious processes in terms of flexibility?
Conscious processes are more flexible than unconscious processes, as consciousness can consider the “big picture” and is not limited to parallel networks operating in separate domains.
COGNITIVE: According to cognitive theory, what is the role of consciousness in decision-making?
unconscious processes start coming up with different options. Consciousness helps by choosing the most promising solutions from these options and making them more noticeable in our minds.
Psychodynamic research supports the hypothesis that emotional and motivational processes can …..
occur outside our awareness
COGNITIVE: knowing how to perform specific skills or tasks. It involves implicit knowledge acquired through practice, enabling automatic and efficient performance without the need for conscious explanation.
Procedural Knowldege
the unconscious or automatic retention and influence of previously learned information or experiences on our thoughts, behaviors, or actions, without us being explicitly aware of it.
implicit memory
The centre of subjective awareness
Consciousness
What is the feedback loop between the thalamus and cortex?
The thalamus and cortex have a feedback loop where the thalamus and reticular formation broadly activate the cortex, and then the cortex sends messages back to the thalamus to narrow the focus of attention. This interaction helps the cortex focus its conscious spotlight on a specific target.
